By definition, a solopreneur is someone who starts and runs their business on their own. But I have some bad news for you. It’s all a lie. There is no such thing as a solopreneur.
The first time I went off on my own in 2013, I truly believed that going freelance was all about me. I thought I could do everything alone. I finally had the opportunity to just rely on me, and let’s be honest if you can’t rely on yourself, then you’re in a lot of trouble.
Oh, boy was I wrong.
When you are working for yourself, you need to remember you can’t do everything. For me, I love focusing on getting into the nitty-gritty of why a company needs a redesign and how best for that redesign to service their customers. The things I hate are the legal and accounting side of the business. Which by the way, are extremely important when you work for yourself.
Now don’t get me wrong, you can try and do these things yourself, but is that really why you work for yourself. Tasks like generating leads, keeping your books current and being legally compliant take a ton of time. It will usually leave you with very little time to actually do the work you enjoy. For those of you who are looking to also scale their services and clients, then you’ll find you have even less time to build that dream.
So what does this all mean?
Support Group
First, surround yourself with fellow local business owners and entrepreneurs. Having a support group to turn to is vital to your success. It can be a mastermind group that you belong to, or a set of friends who also run their own businesses, big or small.
I can’t stress the importance of having a support group enough. There are going to be days that are going to leave you feeling like you are invincible. That you could do anything with your business. But there is a flip side and it’s dark. The days that are rough are extremely low. In fact, isolation, depression and suicide rates are extremely high with entrepreneurs. Humans need companionship. It’s part of our entire history as a species.
Having a network in place was a huge factor when I first started my freelance life. I was extremely lucky that I lived in a place that had a growing network of talented individuals that were starting businesses, had been growing businesses for years, or were on the same freelance path I was. Having this network helped me get through those dark days and humble me on the incredibly amazing days. I can only hope I was able to do the same to the others in my network. Now going into round two, I’m working on building that network again locally. My online network is still in place but having the opportunity to sit down with someone over a coffee or lunch is irreplaceable.
Besides the emotional and mental support from a network, it can also help you with leads to keep your business running. Trust me there is nothing worse than finishing up all your current projects and then realizing you don’t have any further income coming through the door. It usually happens when you have a big life event, a big car repair, or some other major expense.
If you’ve shown your support group that you are reliable, capable and trustworthy, they are more likely to introduce you to their friends who may need your services. You never want to come off being a jerk in your support group. Be a leader but don’t be an asshole.
When I first went leaped into full-time freelance, I was full of stress and anxiety. I questioned everything.
- Why did I do this?
- Was I going to be able to find clients?
- What if people don’t like my work?
Though these fears and questions are common, they weren’t part of my reality. Within the first 48 hours of being off on my own, I had gained six large clients from the network I had in place. Some of them were referrals, others were with friends in my network directly. From there, those referrals sent my name on to their extended networks and life kept on going.
I still struggle with those fears and self-doubt regularly but I’ve come to use it to my advantage. I believe that some fear is what is needed in order to continue to get up each day and push forward. Hustle for more clients and keep the leads flowing in.
Legal
Besides a network to stand behind you, you’ll need support in another area as well. I don’t know many solopreneurs or business owners who enjoy dealing with the legal aspects of their business. When I first started out on my own, my contract was this lame one-page document with some quirky writing that expressed a few points that I thought would protect me if things with a client went south.
Oops. Guess what wrong again? I ran into several issues where clients didn’t pay on time or in some cases didn’t pay at all. There was even one situation where a client threatened to sue me because they had delayed on their project. In fact, they essentially wanted me to start from scratch with the new direction they were heading. As many seasoned freelancers would tell you this would constitute a new contract. But they weren’t open to renegotiating the terms of our agreement. Instead, they threaten a lawsuit. I’m happy to report that with the use of my lawyer and also some very open, honest communication, we were able to come to an agreement and launch their site.
I can’t stress enough the importance of having a lawyer in your court. It can be a costly expense at times but it can be even more costly not having one. A lawyer can help you with everything from setting up your legal entity, clients that dodge their payments, mishaps with clients that cause them to want to sue. Scary right? Trust me they happen.
My contract has evolved since that first one-pager that I occasionally got signed by clients. Now it’s a three-page document that covers off all aspects of my business services, the client’s rights, my rights, expenses, and breakdowns in communications. By working with my lawyer on all these various aspects and situations, I’ve been able to protect myself against some pretty crappy situations.
Promise me that you will always have a contract for your projects and use a lawyer. If you don’t know where to look for a lawyer, I suggest using a service like LegalZoom. Their network of services will help direct you down the right path and introduce you to some amazing people who are affordable and are looking out for your best interests.
Accounting
Finally, there is one person you need in your corner more than a lawyer and that’s an accountant. I used to try to do this myself and got completely screwed when the government came by looking for their cut in the form of taxes. Before going off on my own, I had always done my own taxes so I had enough ego to believe that I could handle my books just as well when I was dealing with my new found freedoms. What I discovered was I was terrible at allocating my income into the right buckets or maintaining my books in a way that gave me a true picture of how my business was doing or how I could grow. It was a nightmare.
I eventually got smart and hired an accountant to reorganize my books, help me prep myself for tax season, find ways to improve my expenses and maximize my revenue. It had gotten so bad that it took weeks to get my books in order. Don’t wait as long as I did. Be smart and get an accountant working with your books right away.
As well, an accountant can offer you a lot of advice as well as what legal structure you should go with like an LLC, sole proprietorship, or C-corp. Each one has it’s pros and cons to you, your taxes and your business. Having someone who can help you understand each and which one is right for you will keep you out of legal trouble or financial ruin.
If you don’t think you can afford an accountant, and this was my thought too, then look at companies like 1-800Accountant. They work on a flat-fee base and have accountants on call that you can connect with any time for any reason.
Conclusion
As you can see, no one can run their business by themselves. If you want to work for yourself, on your own terms, then there are a few people you need to help you on your solopreneurial journey. And as you can see the term solopreneur doesn’t really make a lot of sense. There might be a few outliers out there that are able to do it all, by themselves, all the time but if you want to enjoy the journey, grow the dream career you want to have and have the freedoms you always wanted then you need to at least have a support network, a lawyer or access to legal advice and an accountant. These three things will help you build the life you want to live in.
If you want to learn a little bit more about being a team of one or being a freelancer, I recommend you check out the books, Company of One by Paul Jarvis or Stop Thinking Like a Freelancer: The Evolution of a $1M Web Designer by Liam Veitch.
If books aren’t your thing then I recommend listening to a few pretty amazing podcasts.
